Nov. 13, 2005
STANFORD, Calif. - The Santa Clara University cross country teams concluded its seasons Saturday at the NCAA West Regional Championships, hosted by Stanford University at the Stanford Golf Course.
The Bronco women finished 18th out of 30 teams in the 6,000-meter race, while the men ended-up 20th out of 23 teams in the 10,000-meter regional championships. In each regional, the top two team finishers and top four individuals not on a qualifying team automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for Nov. 21 at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
An additional 13 at-large teams and two at-large individuals will be added to the 31-team, 255-runner men and women's fields by the NCAA Championships selection committee. At-large team selection criteria is bases on teams' head-to-head records against other actual and potential NCAA qualifiers.
In the women's competition, sophomore Shannon Bell was the team's top finisher, earning 59th place overall in a time of 21:49.5. The Spokane, Wash. native ran nearly a minute faster than her only other 6k race this season at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Wash. back in mid-September.
Freshman Veronica Vazquez was SCU's second finisher, earning 71st place overall in a time of 22:10.4. The San Jose, Calif. finished the season strong and improved her previous-best 6k time by over a minute.
Senior Kiley Strong finished 97th overall in a time of 22:40.6, while freshman Whitney Porter was 143rd after covering the course in a time of 23:23.5. Freshman Adriane Puetz was SCU's final scorer, finishing 152nd overall in a time of 23:38.1.
The Broncos were edged by a narrow 25-point margin by San Jose State in the meet, which determined the two points that is alloted for women's cross country in the annual Rivalry Series between the two schools. The Spartan men did not compete at the regional championships and SCU claimed the points due to two head-to-head victories over SJSU during the regular season.
In the men's regional race, senior John Paul Thyken led the way for the men with a 99th-place overall finish in a 10,000-meter time of 33:03.6. The regionals marked the only competition of the year for Santa Clara at that distance.
Sophomore Christen Gumbs finished 109th with a time of 33:27.4, while freshman Michael Hannon was just two positions behind with a 33:32.7 clocking. SCU's fourth finisher was senior Chris Doerhoff, who covered the course in a time of 33:40.3 to finish in 119th place. The final scoring finisher for the Broncos was sophomore Michael Delaurenti, who crossed the line in 131st place with a 34:06.9 clocking.
